Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don't

Why do only a few people get to say "I love my job?" It seems unfair that finding fulfillment at work is like winning a lottery; that only a few lucky ones get to feel valued by their organizations, to feel like they belong. Imagine a world where almost everyone wakes up inspired to go to work, feels trusted and valued during the day, then returns home feeling fulfilled. This is not a crazy, idealized notion. Today, in many successful organizations, great leaders are creating environments in which people naturally work together to do remarkable things.

The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever

In Michael Bungay Stanier's The Coaching Habit, coaching becomes a regular, informal part of your day so managers and their teams can work less hard and have more impact. Drawing on years of experience training more than 10,000 busy managers from around the globe in practical, everyday coaching skills, Bungay Stanier reveals how to unlock your peoples' potential. He unpacks seven essential coaching questions to demonstrate how - by saying less and asking more - you can develop coaching methods that produce great results.

The 10X Rule: The Only Difference Between Success and Failure

Extreme success, by definition, lies beyond the realm of normal action. If you want to achieve extreme success, you can’t operate like everybody else and settle for mediocrity. You need to remove luck and chance from your business equation, and lock in massive success. The 10X Rule shows you how!

Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don't

Built To Last, the defining management study of the 90s, showed how great companies triumph over time and how long-term sustained performance can be engineered into the DNA of an enterprise from the very beginning. But what about companies that are not born with great DNA? How can good companies, mediocre companies, even bad companies achieve enduring greatness?

Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win

In Extreme Ownership, Jocko Willink and Leif Babin share hard-hitting Navy SEAL combat stories that translate into lessons for business and life. With riveting firsthand accounts of making high-pressure decisions as Navy SEAL battlefield leaders, this audiobook is equally gripping for leaders who seek to dominate other arenas.

The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business

At its core, The Power of Habit contains an exhilarating argument: The key to exercising regularly, losing weight, raising exceptional children, becoming more productive, building revolutionary companies and social movements, and achieving success is understanding how habits work. Habits aren’t destiny. As Charles Duhigg shows, by harnessing this new science, we can transform our businesses, our communities, and our lives.

The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results

This is an audiobook for busy people. If you want less on your plate and more for your life and career, tune in to the #1 Wall Street Journal best seller, The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results. The ONE Thing will bring your life and your work into focus. Authors Gary Keller and Jay Papasan teach you the tricks to cut through the clutter, achieve better results in less time, dial down stress, and master what matters to you.

Smarter Faster Better: The Secrets of Being Productive in Life and Business

Drawing on the latest findings in neuroscience, psychology, and behavioral economics - as well as the experiences of CEOs, educational reformers, four-star generals, FBI agents, airplane pilots, and Broadway songwriters - this painstakingly researched book explains that the most productive people, companies, and organizations don't merely act differently. They view the world, and their choices, in profoundly different ways.

Stephen R. Covey's book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, has been a top seller for the simple reason that it ignores trends and pop psychology for proven principles of fairness, integrity, honesty, and human dignity. Celebrating its 15th year of helping people solve personal and professional problems, this special anniversary edition includes a new foreword and afterword written by Covey that explore whether the 7 Habits are still relevant and answer some of the most common questions he has received over the past 15 years.

Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance

In this must-listen book for anyone striving to succeed, pioneering psychologist Angela Duckworth shows parents, educators, students, and businesspeople - both seasoned and new - that the secret to outstanding achievement is not talent but a focused persistence called "grit". Why do some people succeed and others fail? Sharing new insights from her landmark research on grit, MacArthur "genius" Angela Duckworth explains why talent is hardly a guarantor of success.

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life

For decades we've been told that positive thinking is the key to a happy, rich life. "F*ck positivity," Mark Manson says. "Let's be honest, shit is f*cked, and we have to live with it." In his wildly popular Internet blog, Manson doesn't sugarcoat or equivocate. He tells it like it is - a dose of raw, refreshing, honest truth that is sorely lacking today. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck is his antidote to the coddling, let's-all-feel-good mind-set that has infected modern society and spoiled a generation, rewarding them with gold medals just for showing up.

The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich (Expanded and Updated)

This expanded edition includes dozens of practical tips and case studies from readers who have doubled their income, overcome common sticking points, and reinvented themselves using the original book. Also included are templates for eliminating email and negotiating with bosses and clients, how to apply lifestyle principles in unpredictable economic times, and the latest tools, tricks, and shortcuts for living like a diplomat or millionaire without being either.

The Like Switch: An Ex-FBI Agent's Guide to Influencing, Attracting, and Winning People Over

The Like Switch is packed with all the tools you need for turning strangers into friends, whether you are on a sales call, a first date, or a job interview. As a Special Agent for the FBI's National Security Division's Behavioral Analysis Program, Dr. Jack Schafer developed dynamic and breakthrough strategies for profiling terrorists and detecting deception. Now, Dr. Schafer has evolved his proven-on-the-battlefield tactics for the day-to-day, but no less critical battle of getting people to like you.

Triggers: Creating Behavior That Lasts - Becoming the Person You Want to Be

In business, the right behaviors matter. But getting it right is tricky. Even when we acknowledge the need to change what we do and how we do it, life has a habit of getting in the way, upsetting even the best-laid plans. And just how do we manage those situations that can provoke even the most rational among us into behaving in ways we would rather forget?

Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us

From Daniel H. Pink, the author of the groundbreaking best seller A Whole New Mind, comes his next big idea book: a paradigm-changing examination of what truly motivates us and how to harness that knowledge to find greater satisfaction in our lives and our work.

Outliers: The Story of Success

In this stunning new book, Malcolm Gladwell takes us on an intellectual journey through the world of "outliers"--the best and the brightest, the most famous and the most successful. He asks the question: what makes high-achievers different? His answer is that we pay too much attention to what successful people are like, and too little attention to where they are from: that is, their culture, their family, their generation, and the idiosyncratic experiences of their upbringing.

Think and Grow Rich

Think and Grow Rich is the number-one inspirational and motivational classic for individuals who are interested in furthering their lives and reaching their goals by learning from important figures in history. The text read in this audiobook is the original 1937 edition written by Napoleon Hill and inspired by Andrew Carnegie - and while it has often been reproduced, no updated version has ever been able to compete with the original.

Turn the Ship Around!: A True Story of Turning Followers into Leaders

David Marquet, an experienced Navy officer, was used to giving orders. Marquet acted like any other captain until, one day, he unknowingly gave an impossible order, and his crew tried to follow it anyway. Marquet realized he was leading in a culture of followers, and they were all in danger unless they fundamentally changed the way they did things. Struggling against his own instincts to take control, he instead achieved the vastly more powerful model of giving control.

Publisher's Summary

Why are some people and organizations more innovative, more influential, and more profitable than others? Why do some command greater loyalty from customers and employees alike? Even among the successful, why are so few able to repeat their successes over and over? People like Martin Luther King Jr., Steve Jobs, and the Wright Brothers might have little in common, but they all started with why. Their natural ability to start with why enabled them to inspire those around them and to achieve remarkable things. In studying the leaders who’ve had the greatest influence in the world, Simon Sinek discovered that they all think, act, and communicate in the exact same way—and it’s the complete opposite of what everyone else does. Sinek calls this powerful idea The Golden Circle, and it provides a framework upon which organizations can be built, movements can be led, and people can be inspired. And it all starts with WHY. Any organization can explain what it does; some can explain how they do it; but very few can clearly articulate why. WHY is not money or profit—those are always results. Why does your organization exist? Why does it do the things it does? Why do customers really buy from one company or another? Why are people loyal to some leaders, but not others? Starting with WHY works in big business and small business, in the nonprofit world and in politics. Those who start with WHY never manipulate, they inspire. And people follow them not because they have to; they follow because they want to. Drawing on a wide range of real-life stories, Sinek weaves together a clear vision of what it truly takes to lead and inspire. This book is for anyone who wants to inspire others or who wants to find someone to inspire them.

What the Critics Say

“Start with Why is one of the most useful and powerful books I have read in years. Simple and elegant, it shows us how leaders should lead. Highly recommended!” (William Ury, co-author of Getting to Yes; cofounder of The Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School)

The book is insightful about what drives customer loyalty and what makes employees dedicated to their work. The only problem is that the book uses some of the same examples over and over, primarily Apple and Martin Luther King. After the first few chapters, it is clear that Apple's core beliefs are about simplicity, design, and technology and pushing the envelop on those frontiers. The products are just results of what they are about. The author also uses Dr. King as an example of his "why" -- belief for equality for all people. The message was clear and it resonated with people. The march was a result of the people demonstrating their belief. If you're interested in the topic, you should first watch Simon Sinek's TED Talk. If you want more details, then read the book. The book doesn't provide any new information, just a lot of examples.

I really enjoyed this book. I usually don???t go in much for ???business??? books, but the reviews on this one caught my eye. The book is single minded and does not really state the obvious, if you make stuff people don???t want, the why does not really matter and if you have a better mousetrap you don???t have to start with why to make lots of money. Nevertheless the Why does matter. I have thought about and discussed the ideas in this book quite a bit, which is about the best I can hope for in such a book.

Because they have to or we wouldn't read them, business leadership books oversimplify very complex organizational dynamics. They also repeat themselves and rehash plowed ground. Start with Why is no exception. It relays success stories about Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Sam Walton, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and others--stories we have already heard. On the other hand, Mr. Sinek is the exception to the author-narrator stereotype; he is a very good narrator.

Mr. Sinek does hammer home an important concept that I hadn't given enough thought to, and that's as the title says, Start with Why. This book will change the way I make presentations and work with my colleagues. So, to me, the key message was very valuable.

Finally, and most importantly, the price was right. This was a daily deal. Thank you, Audible

I saw Simon first doing a TED talk online. While the book is a bit repetitive, I think it might be by design. This concept is simple but VERY powerful. I constantly found myself talking about the concepts, which is always a good sign that the book is resonating with me. HIGHLY recommend it.

Reading this book is like listening to your mechanic say:
"People don't like horse manure, that's why the automobile succeeded in replacing the horse-drawn carriage." and: "Having a car allows you to get places faster. So without a car, you can’t get anywhere on time.”
And then, the mechanic follows that up with very useful advice on how to maintain your car. You appreciate the useful advice, but you are blown away by some of the other comments. Oh, and the mechanic happens to be the friendliest person you know!

The author comes across as an extremely kindhearted person, and so it pains me to write anything but the loveliest review. However, it also pains me to hear the author say:

"A company is a culture. A group of people brought together around a common set of values and beliefs." Certainly, each person in the group has a reason (a “Why” as the author calls it) for being a part of the group, but those reasons are not necessarily *shared* amongst the group.

The author makes a multitude of social, anthropological, technological and historical claims many of which are, to varying degrees, inaccurate and poorly researched. Other claims simply seem naïve of the author to make (eg. what were the Wright Brothers’ and Steve Jobs’ *true,* *deep-down internal* thought processes and motivations driving their achievements). And often times, the author exemplifies a misunderstanding of causality (akin to the horse manure/automobile logic above).

Ironically, the skewed-logic and faulty claims are invoked to support what are otherwise insightful conclusions. (eg, it is beneficial to employees/ers to choose their respective association with each other based on a common set of values and beliefs).

If you can make it through the frustrating distractions of repetitiveness and inaccuracies, this book does have useful tidbits.

As far as the book goes, there's been very few idea books that have kept my attention this well through the whole book. The sound is a little tinny and I couldn't turn it up too much without some distortion and also, when playing it on my iPod, it would freeze whenever switching to a new chapter.

Simon Sinek in his easy to listen to and thought provoking book explains how business' who describe or identify themselves by their process' or what it is they do rather then why they do it, find themselves directionless and floundering in their chosen field.

By starting with why they exist, an organisation or individual can focusing on that purpose allowing clarity and congruency within their decision making. People are inspired and motivated by the why; it allows them to identify with the individual or organisation.

Simon presents his thoughts in a logical and easy to follow manner. His voice is enjoyable, and he presents his material passionately and with conviction. I enjoyed his presentation thoroughly and recommend it highly to anyone interested in developing a why to their business or interests in life.

This book has changed the way I talk about our business. Not only does Simon Sinek have me communicating differently, he's also got me thinking differently. By stripping back the commonality of what and how, understanding and rediscovering the WHY has reinvigorated my passion for what I do. I believe that if you read this book, like me, you'll never look at the world in the same way again. If this review encourages just 1 person to read/listen to this and it has the same positive effect on them that it's had on me then this review will have been worthwhile. That's why I've been tapping away at my keyboard for the last 5 minutes.!

15 of 15 people found this review helpful

Mat

LeicesterUnited Kingdom

2/17/11

Overall

"Superb!"

This is definitely one of the best books I have read/heard, period. The core concept that runs through the book is clear from the outset, but Simon Sineks incredible way of allowing the reader/listener to understand the concept is brilliant. I have not stopped talking about this book to everyone I meet, as it rings true not just in the business world, but also in the real world. I found it incredibly inspirational when it comes to being a leader as well as understanding my own life decisions.

It was so good that I have actually purchased the physical book after listening to this audio version.

A Must listen/read!

12 of 12 people found this review helpful

Malcolm Sinclair

Wiltshire, UK

12/23/12

Overall

"Lest we forget"

Let's face it, management theory is for the few not the many. Its all about how we can do what we do better, with more intelligence or emotion or flair. And to me it has its limits. But this book is a real exception. Simon Sinek is not much interested in what we do, or how we do it. He wants us to go back to the "Why". For me, in a significant public sector role in a service which had lost its way, this book accompanied me on a 40 minute drive to work every day, and still does some days. Sinek talks a lot about Apple and other companies which do things differently, and comes back time and time again to the why as the thing that matters, not the what or the how. If you are a half decent manager, particularly in the UK public sector, you probably need no reminders of what and how, but the system conspires to make us lose sight of why. This book readdresses that and is well worth the read/listen.

7 of 7 people found this review helpful

Mr. R. D. Cox

London

8/11/11

Overall

"Inspiring"

I found this book immensely inspiring. I am thinking up ways to differentiate myself, form differentiating organisations and inspire others.

The criticism given by others on this book, that the anecdotes and examples become repetitive are valid; and this loses a star. However the book is really good and well worth a read/reread. I will be following up on this with some of these lectures on the “golden circle" which are available on YouTube.

11 of 12 people found this review helpful

Mario Christou

LONDON, United Kingdom

4/13/13

Overall

"An absolute essential for everyone"

This is the most powerful audio book I have ever listened to. This will open your mind to the reasons why you do what you do and if you were unclear beforehand this will certainly help connect with your reasons for doing what you do :)

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

simon

Esher, United Kingdom

5/4/13

Overall

Performance

Story

"superb!"

This really is a book to inspire you, Infact the best business related book I have heard.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

sophie

HALIFAX, United Kingdom

12/24/12

Overall

"A must read for any business owner"

A very informative book on how to build a long term following for your brand. This book takes you away from traditional marketing to help you build core long term company values that are reflected in every step of the decision making process. Highly recommended!!

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Phil

Totnes, United Kingdom

11/8/13

Overall

Performance

Story

"The whole book is in the title"

What disappointed you about Start with Why?

This entire book is in the title - the rest is tediously repetitive anecdotes and padding, mostly about how wonderful Apple is.

What could Simon Sinek have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Add some meaningful content.

Would you be willing to try another one of Simon Sinek’s performances?

No thanks.

You didn’t love this book--but did it have any redeeming qualities?

It was nicely read.

Any additional comments?

I would like a refund.

10 of 14 people found this review helpful

Leticia

5/15/14

Overall

Performance

Story

"Awesome concept"

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

If your smart enough to grasp the concept in the first chapter the book becomes a little boring. It is sooooo repetitive!! The case studies are bad however I think it could have been 200 pages shorter. Life changing - YES! But I really didn't need to hear why I should find the why more than 100 times. His youtube videos are far more engaging.

Would you ever listen to anything by Simon Sinek again?

Yes

What about Simon Sinek’s performance did you like?

Well read

If this book were a film would you go see it?

Yes

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Adrian Shaw

3/24/14

Overall

Performance

Story

"Excellent - packs a huge punch"

What made the experience of listening to Start with Why the most enjoyable?

This books starts slowly, I though it was a Gladwell or Pink clone and, quite honestly, I nearly gave up. But I was on a long walk with my dogs and I had an hour of listening to do. Then it starts to heat up in chapter two. Each chapter from then on is clear, crisp and compelling.

What did you like best about this story?

The essence of the book, namely 'asking WHY, before jumping into HOW and WHAT' is applicable on an incredibly personal level, as well as applying to business and leadership. The message is authentic and honest. I initially thought 'here we go, another book referring to Apple and SWA' but actually ... this book does a better job than most explaining the success of those companies, despite the flaws of their founders. Excellent piece of research and something I will use

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

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